


Honey, I'm home!

by orphan_account



Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, totally self-indulgent lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27898357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sometimes I still think about Keonhee calling Seoho jagiya in that birthday message and then this thingy came to be.
Relationships: Lee Keonhee/Lee Seoho
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I actually never watched Dinosaurs but my dad did and he sometimes jokes around with phrases from it.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSjJKs9xrZA

"Honey, I’m home!"

Keonhee hears an unknown laugh. He feels his face flush in embarrassment when he discovers they have a guest.

"Welcome back." Seoho says, unbothered.

Keonhee looks back and forth between the two men sitting at the kitchen table. It doesn't seem like he interrupted anything, but at the same time, he has no idea if this is how a date with Seoho would go.

Ever since Keonhee saw Seoho browsing through a dating website yesterday, he couldn't help but start to worry if his flatmate would find anyone. He wonders if Seoho likes short guys like the one staring at him with mischief in his eyes.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Yeo Hwanwoong, Seoho-hyung's favorite junior."

Keonhee returns his bow, and remembers Seoho mentioning this Hwanwoong guy quite a lot when talking about his day at work.

"I'm Lee Keonhee. Nice to meet you."

Keonhee leaves the groceries on the counter, and wears the baby blue apron Seoho got for him after the older man somehow managed to burn his old one.

"I'm making curry. Is there something you can't eat?"

Hwanwoong politely tries to say he doesn't want to impose, but Keonhee insists he stays for dinner.

"I always make a little extra, don't worry about it. Please distract Seoho-hyung so he doesn't try to sabotage my food."

Hwanwoong laughs out loud and Seoho sends him a betrayed look. Keonhee tries to concentrate on his cooking, but he can't help but feel curious about what the two of them are talking about.

He only manages to catch a few broken sentences, but the word "marriage" rings clear in his ears. Keonhee feels like a bucket of ice cold water has been dumped into his head.

He somehow manages to not mess up the curry, and tries to maintain a neutral face on.

Hwanwoong seems like a nice guy. He teases Seoho, compliments Keonhee's food, even though it just tastes normal, and also helps with the dishes. On top of that, he is handsome too.

So far, Keonhee hasn't noticed any glaring flaw. If it's this guy, he thinks he can get over it more easily. Of course, not living with Seoho, seeing him happily married with someone else, the mere thought of it makes his chest hurt, but if Seoho is happy, he will find some other way to be happy too. After he cries a bit about it.

Keonhee already starts making a list of everything he needs to cheer up himself after they announce their marriage. But then Hwanwoong waves goodbye and Keonhee notices the silver ring on his left hand.

He subtly peeks at Seoho's bare hands and sighs in relief.

\---

Keonhee knows he might look ridiculous, feeling jealous like this. He hasn't confessed, even though he is very aware of his feelings towards his flatmate and best friend, and yet, the thought of Seoho leaving him for a lover never seriously stuck in his head.

They start and end the day together. The chores division doesn't really exist anymore, other than alternating between Seoho's experimental cooking and Keonhee's basic one. They don't even bother to correct anyone who thinks they're together.

But something starts to change after Seoho's 35th birthday. He spaces out more frequently, spends the nights outside and always deflect Keonhee's attempts to discover what's up.

Keonhee starts to notice how much he takes for granted.

\---

The wet shoes leave a mark on the floor. Keonhee blindly reaches for the light switch trying to not let his teeth clatter.

The rain came down unannounced, and the wind was so strong that Keonhee's foldable umbrella was of no help at all.

He feels much better after a warm bath, and starts checking the kitchen cabinets, torn between cooking and ordering something.

Seoho had texted him earlier, informing that he'd be having dinner with a friend. Keonhee wonders if it is a date.

In the end, he orders fried chicken.

The clock ticks, the night darkens and Seoho hasn't come back yet. Keonhee is half asleep on the couch, movie playing on the tv with the sound lowered down.

The front door opens, and he feels even more drowsy. Maybe he relaxes more knowing Seoho is home.

After a few minutes, the tv is turned off, and he snuggles into the blanket that is thrown over him. Then Seoho gently cups his face, gives him a soft kiss on the cheek, and goes to his room.

Keonhee takes a long time to feel sleepy again.

\---

The next morning, Keonhee almost gets late for work.

He and Seoho have breakfast together. Coffee for him, tea for Seoho. They eat in silence, and Keonhee cleans up while Seoho tries to do something about his bed hair.

As always, Keonhee fixes his necktie and sends him off.

"Have a good day, honey."

Seoho would usually nod and go. But this time, he holds Keonhee's hands. His mouth opens for a bit, as if he is going to say something, but in the end, Seoho runs out without saying a word.

Keonhee loses track of how long he stays frozen there, trying to make sense of things. The whole morning, he keeps replaying the weird interaction on his head.

The kids make fun of him messing up in class. He laughs and hurriedly fixes it.

Geonhak, who usually accompanies him for lunch and says no more than a dozen words, is the one initiating the conversation.

"You being this quiet scares me. Are you okay?"

It's a bit challenging to try to explain his predicament. 

Last year, Geonhak saw Keonhee and Seoho at the market, buying some toilet paper. The following week, it rained and Seoho came to pick Keonhee up. He didn't correct Geonhak when he informed his boyfriend was waiting at the entrance. And didn't bother to do so any other time the three of them happened to meet at the market or the school.

Even so, Geonhak doesn't call him out on that, and uses his "for little kids voice" to tell Keonhee that can tell him whatever it's on his mind. He is used to having many students come to him asking for advice.

He doesn't say much, but patiently hears Keonhee blurt out everything plaguing his mind these past days.

When their lunch break is over and they are going back, Geonhak pats Keonhee's back.

"If you like him, you should confess. My boyfriend always says it's better to regret something you did, rather than something you didn't do."

\---

Over the next days, Keonhee barely sees Seoho. The only time they spend together is at breakfast, and even so, he seems to be always busy on his phone.

Then one morning, Seoho asks a question Keonhee didn't really want to answer.

"Can you help me with ideas for a date?"

Keonhee gives some half-hearted advice, something about good food and a nice ambient that doesn't get in the way of conversation. He also advises Seoho to ask the seller for help in case he decides to buy flowers. His friend's sense of cuteness is a bit unusual, so he wouldn't be surprised if he gave white chrysanthemums to his date.

Seoho writes it down into his phone and smiles at him, thankful. He downs his tea and finishes getting ready.

"I'm sorry, I won't be home for dinner today either. But l promise to make it up to you friday, so reserve the night for me."

Keonhee nods and sends him off.

He takes a sip of his cooling coffee. It seems like he has no more time to hesitate. So he starts to plan his confession.

\---

As soon as the last class of the week is over, he runs home. Geonhak, bless him, is taking care of his part of the cleanup too. He makes a small detour, and speed walks towards their building, glancing all the time at his phone. He doesn’t have much time before Seoho arrives.

He hastily opens the door. To his surprise, the lights are on. Seoho looks up, startled. He tries to hide whatever he’s making in the kitchen, but Keonhee already saw everything.

“I’m home. What are you doing?” Keonhee says, approaching.

There are a few strips of bacon on the counter, and a tray half-full of rolled up bacon with toothpicks holding their shape. Besides it, a bowl full of leaves. The oven finishes pre-heating, and interrupts their silence with a ding.

“...Are you making bacon roses?”

Seoho slowly nods, beet red. Keonhee stares at him, not really knowing what to think.

“Don’t judge me. I’m allergic to flowers, did you expect me to buy you real roses when we literally live together?”

Keonhee looks around. There are some unlit candles on the table, on top of a new tablecloth, beside a bluetooth speaker he’s seen Seoho use only once. Seoho is making bacon roses. For him.


	2. Chapter 2

The kitchen's lights are all off. From the open window, the moonlight enters and illuminates Seoho's back.

Clac, clac, clac, clac.

The little box is already getting worn from being opened and closed so many times. Inside it, there are two identical wedding bands. They are simple golden rings, something cheap, bought so long ago. Seoho sometimes regrets not picking something prettier.

His stomach growls, so he gets up to check the fridge. There is his not-so-successful attempt at lunch, a bit of Keonhee's stew and the last slice of his birthday cake.

His hand reaches out for the cake, but before taking it out, he changes his mind and grabs the stew.

He watches the container spin around in the microwave, while still worrying about the same thing.

He flinches when he hears a loud bang. Keonhee must have kicked something in his sleep again.

_ “If we don’t find anyone by the time I’m 35, we could just get married.” _

Being in his thirties seemed so far away.

Keonhee had been so heartbroken after that jerk dumped him that Seoho made a promise he never imagined to actually fulfill.

22-year-old Seoho also never thought he’d fall in love with his best friend. But here he is, thinking how he never realized how deep he fell for Keonhee, despite everything. He thought it was just a crush. For years, it just stayed somewhere in the back of his mind. It was just a small tinge of jealousy when Keonhee went on dates, the guilty relief when it wouldn’t go well, the small happiness at being together.

Then he finds the pair of rings he bought when that promise was made. He tries thinking more rationally. There are lots of people in the world. He likes Keonhee, sure, but isn’t it because they have gotten used to each other? Would it be fair if they got married like this, even though Keonhee surely could find someone he’d truly love?

He browses through dating websites. He stares at many tiny photos of people. The only thought that passes through his mind is that they aren’t Keonhee.

\---

“... so you’re saying that you live together with him, he calls you honey, eats your very questionable food, has not dated anyone in the last three years, and answered that as long as he has you, he’s not bothered about being single. And you’re afraid he doesn’t love you the way you love him.”

Hwanwoong facepalms.

“Well, when you say it like that… But what if I’m wrong?”

“Have you confessed to him?”

Seoho looks down.

“You’ll never be sure until you are truthful with him.”

The front door unlocks, and Keonhee announces his presence.

"Honey, I’m home!"

Seoho tries very hard to not mind Hwanwoong’s teasing look.

Keonhee starts making dinner, and Seoho tries to divert the conversation from its previous topic.

“And you? How is married life?”

“It’s going well. We do have small disagreements sometimes, but nothing too bad. We have started to use paper, scissors, rock to decide the trivial stuff. For the ones he doesn’t mind losing, Youngjo-hyung always throws scissors, anyways.”

Hwanwoong plays with his wedding ring.

“Well, you two wouldn’t have this kind of problem, I guess. You’ve been living together for what? 10 years? I doubt marriage would change much.”

Seoho sighs.

“The way you talk it seems like you’re sure he's going to say yes. I don’t even know how to confess.”

“You know, you should talk to my husband. His proposal was a bit corny, but if your man is as dense as you, a bit of excess romance wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

\---

Seoho is exhausted.

Yeo Youngjo had given him a lot of ideas, but Seoho really doesn’t think he can use any of them. Public confessions? Overly dramatic situations and great stunts? Keonhee would just laugh at him and think it is an elaborate prank. 

Keonhee is sleeping on the couch with the tv still playing some movie. He looks very cute, cheeks smashed against the old armrest and legs bent to fit in. Seoho could easily carry him, but he doesn’t want to risk waking him up.

He brings a blanket and Keonhee snuggles into it. Hwanwoong’s voice echoes in his mind.

_ “Well, he seems to like physical affection. You could try to reciprocate and see how he reacts.” _

Before he can stop himself, Seoho kisses Keonhee’s cold cheek.

He then goes to his room, gets undressed and jumps on the bed. He can still hear his heart pounding in his ears.

\---

"Have a good day, honey."

Seoho can’t even remember when Keonhee started calling him like this. The endearing nickname he doesn’t admit to liking. Today he feels nervous hearing it.

_ "He calls you honey, why don't you make a nickname for him too?" _

He has thought about it before. He didn't tell Hwanwoong that, of course. But when he actually tries to say it out loud, the words are stuck in his throat and Seoho can't get them out.

He runs away. 

It’s more embarrassing than he thought. How does Keonhee manage to do this every day?

\---

He needs more information.

How do people confess? What would Keonhee consider romantic? He’s not very sure.

So he researches. Each night, he goes to a different famous date spot. It's terrible to be the only single person there, but if he fails at his confession, he's sure to be single for a longer time.

At breakfast, he searches online for ideas.

Seoho doesn’t make much progress.

Then he finds Keonhee asleep on the couch again. This time, his position is very strange, and he certainly is going to be aching all over tomorrow if he sleeps the entire night like that. Seoho tries shaking him awake, but Keonhee doesn’t seem to be waking up anytime soon.

He somehow manages to put him properly on the bed. He’s about to go out when he feels a tug on his pants.

“Don’t go. I miss you.”

Seoho sits on the bed and softly pats Keonhee's head until his grip loosens. He might have been searching for answers in the wrong place.

\---

“Seoho-hyung.”

Seoho doesn’t look up. It’s obvious that he was preparing a romantic dinner. Keonhee must already understand what his intentions are. Why did he have to come home so early? Seoho doesn’t know what he is supposed to do.

_ Do I confess now? Or try to make it seem like it's nothing? Will I get rejected before even confessing? _

“Seoho-hyung, look at me.”

He hears Keonhee getting down on one knee, and finally meets his eyes. On his hands is a bouquet of little bunny plushies.

“I love you. Will you go out with me?”

Seoho feels like he is floating.

“Do you even have to ask?”

Keonhee pouts, and Seoho crouches down to kiss it away. They soon separate when both can’t stop laughing into the kiss.

“A plush toy bouquet.”

Keonhee pecks his lips once more.

“Well, you’re allergic to flowers, did you really expect me to buy you real roses?”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

Seoho leans forward to kiss Keonhee again, but stops halfway.

“You’re stinking of bacon.”

Keonhee playfully pushes him away.

“Well, whose fault is it? You must be stinkier than me.”

Seoho brings a hand up and scrunches his nose at the smell.

“Yeah. Go take a shower. I still have a lot to prepare.”

Keonhee sneakly steals one last kiss before running to the bathroom.

The bacon flowers get a little burnt, the salad sauce is a little too sweet, but for Keonhee they taste like a fancy meal.

\---

Monday morning, Keonhee and Seoho have breakfast together. Coffee for Keonhee, tea for Seoho. They eat in silence, and Keonhee cleans up while Seoho tries to do something about his bed hair.

Keonhee fixes his necktie and sends him off.

"Have a good day, honey."

Seoho’s ring sparkles in his hand as he waves.

“I’m going, darling.”


End file.
